The law that saved the bald eagle is being gutted
Since 1973, when Richard Nixon signed it into law, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has saved more than 99% of the species listed under its protection — including the bald eagle, the American alligator, and the black-footed ferret.¹ More than 1,682 species are currently listed as endangered or threatened.¹
The Trump administration has drafted two rules that take effect Aug. 20. One strips automatic protections from newly listed threatened species, while the other forces regulators to weigh economic impacts before protecting habitat. A third, effective Sept. 14, rewrites the 50-year-old definition of "harm" so that degrading a species' habitat no longer counts as harming it.²
Habitat loss is the leading threat to endangered species' survival.² Between 2020 and 2022, 1,255 Florida manatees — at least a tenth of the state's population — starved to death after pollution-fueled algae blooms killed the seagrass they feed on.² Under the new definition of harm, it's an open question whether that would even violate the law.²
A manatee grazing a seagrass bed. A panther slipping through pine flatwoods. A hatchling sea turtle finding the water. None of them survive without a home.
The Trump administration is dismantling the ESA despite its effectiveness and popularity. But Congress wrote this law. Congress must defend it.
Sources:
"A Stake Through the Heart of the Endangered Species Act." Sierra Magazine. July 26, 2026.
"Florida wildlife under threat from Trump administration rule." The Florida Trib. July 24, 2026.